My fiance decided she wanted to get some fresh air over the weekend and break out her oils.
Fortunately we live comfortably near to several nice bits of parkland and finding something worthy of being painted takes only a stone and a good throwing arm. On this particular day we went to the Oakes Quarry in Fairborn which if I'm honest is one of my favorite parks. It is fairly large at 190 acres and I've never seen the parking lot with more than half a dozen cars. (You'll learn quickly that I don't like heavily populated places).
The majority of our time was spent alone, although we did get a brief visit from a couple dogs that seemed like they were having a very good day.
More as a curiosity than anything else I set up one of my camera's on a tripod to snap off a picture of the painting every 60 seconds, This resulted in a fascinating time lapse (viewed here). Since the day was largely overcast with sporadic bursts of sunlight I let the camera select its own exposures, That's why the overall brightness remains the same even though there are periodic flashes of direct sunlight. To help keep the exposure consistent I covered the eye piece so that the sensor was only receiving light from in front of the lens and not through the back as well.
While the D3200 was stationed at the painting I walked around a bit and took some shots with the D750 to give you a better idea of the scale of the park.
It's easy to see why there is so much activity in the quarry as the location is fairly inspiring. As long as graffiti remains a small and localized phenomenon I don't feel that is detracts from the overall experience of nature. As for rock formations- they're just fun.
As a whole I would highly recommend a visit to the Quarry. It has a blasted lunar surface for the largest part, but it also has grassy prairie, a quiet wooded stream, rocky crags, stocked ponds, and everyone's favorite: you can find and take home your own fossils. The walls are protected active research sites, but there are marked piles of stones that are free for the taking.
The majority of our time was spent alone, although we did get a brief visit from a couple dogs that seemed like they were having a very good day.
More as a curiosity than anything else I set up one of my camera's on a tripod to snap off a picture of the painting every 60 seconds, This resulted in a fascinating time lapse (viewed here). Since the day was largely overcast with sporadic bursts of sunlight I let the camera select its own exposures, That's why the overall brightness remains the same even though there are periodic flashes of direct sunlight. To help keep the exposure consistent I covered the eye piece so that the sensor was only receiving light from in front of the lens and not through the back as well.
While the D3200 was stationed at the painting I walked around a bit and took some shots with the D750 to give you a better idea of the scale of the park.
In the original raw file of the top image the painting easel is only a few pixels tall, I was impressed with a hand held capture to be able to recognize a seated person at nearly a mile of distance at all with a 24mm lens.
Walking through the park it becomes pretty clear that this place is frequented by many artists, including a few who feel the need to leave their mark. Some by simple arrangements of stone and others by more destructive means. Although as far as I know it is still vandalism, the fact that it shows up in a man made quarry that's only 80 years old and not in other nearby parks with exposed rock faces is encouraging... And somehow I doubt it is the Steve Carell, but you never know.
It's easy to see why there is so much activity in the quarry as the location is fairly inspiring. As long as graffiti remains a small and localized phenomenon I don't feel that is detracts from the overall experience of nature. As for rock formations- they're just fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment